However, under the concerted leadership of the Party, with the support of the National Assembly and the decisive direction of the Government, businesses are receiving renewed support to gradually overcome difficulties and expand, laying a solid foundation for achieving double-digit economic growth this year.
Identifying and removing bottlenecks
According to the Ministry of Finance, as of the end of 2025, Viet Nam had around one million active enterprises, up 25% from 2020. Notably, following the issuance of the Politburo’s Resolution 68 on private sector development in May 2025, entrepreneurial spirit and business dynamism have gained significant momentum.
Since May 2025, an average of around 18,000 new enterprises have been established each month, up 38% compared with the average of the first four months of the year. Over the full year, nearly 300,000 enterprises were either newly established or resumed operations. This record-breaking growth reflects the growing vitality and confidence of the business community.
Beyond growth in numbers, the enterprise sector has made a significant contribution to mobilising resources for socio-economic development, with 564 projects commenced and inaugurated nationwide in 2025, representing a total investment of approximately 5.2 quadrillion VND (190 billion USD), of which nearly three-quarters was sourced from private capital.
These results have been instrumental in maintaining macroeconomic stability, controlling inflation, and sustaining Viet Nam’s economic growth at over 8% in 2025.
Despite these positive outcomes, the economy is going through a highly challenging period as the global economy continues to be affected by epidemics, geopolitical conflicts, and trade and financial volatility. These factors have significantly impacted business operations, with global supply chains disrupted, shortages of raw materials and declining order volumes, and sharply rising input costs driven by elevated global energy prices and logistics costs.
In response, the Party and the State have introduced a series of timely policies to remove obstacles, support business recovery, and foster development, thereby generating new momentum for production and business activities.
However, the business community reports that it still faces numerous barriers and bottlenecks that must be swiftly identified and systematically addressed in order to build a solid foundation and generate sufficient momentum to realise the goal of double-digit growth in the 2026–2030 period.
According to Dr Dinh The Hien of the Institute of Information and Economics Research (IIB), in sectors of comparative advantage such as food processing, linkages between businesses and farmers remain weak, leading to unstable supply. In key industries such as textiles and footwear, dependence on imported materials remains high, and insufficient command of input production technologies results in low value addition and vulnerability to external shocks.
In addition, the lack of robust financial ties within supply chains makes it difficult for small and medium-sized enterprises to access capital. The persistent delays in payment between enterprises affect the stability of entire production chains. Logistics infrastructure constraints and high operating costs continue to weigh on businesses, eroding the competitiveness of their goods.
Moreover, many enterprises have not invested sufficiently in building international brands and developing high value-added finished products, as they must focus resources on upstream production stages. This is a major limitation in their efforts to integrate more deeply into global value chains.
Unlocking growth drivers
Alongside internal limitations, enterprises also face institutional bottlenecks, as the legal framework in certain areas remains fragmented, inconsistent, or ambiguous, complicating implementation. In some cases, regulations increase compliance costs and dampen incentives for innovation.
Business conditions and administrative procedures in certain sectors and localities remain complex and time-consuming, giving rise to informal costs. Policy implementation is sometimes inconsistent, and the capacity and service orientation of some grassroots-level officials remain inadequate.
Many enterprises, especially small and medium-sized ones, still struggle to access land, credit, technology, and market information. Meanwhile, international trends towards increased trade protectionism, along with stricter technical standards and environmental requirements, are placing considerable pressure on export-oriented businesses.
This reality highlights the urgent need to remove institutional bottlenecks, improve the efficiency of policy implementation, and enhance enterprises’ access to resources in order to drive breakthroughs in the period ahead.
Ho Sy Hung, Chairman of the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), emphasised that supporting businesses in overcoming current difficulties should be established as a central priority.
This requires the Government to continue transforming its governance mindset towards development facilitation, shifting from a regulatory stance to a service-oriented approach for businesses, and building a transparent, enabling, and equitable business environment.
It is also essential to resolve overlaps and inconsistencies across laws, ensuring the coherence, stability, and predictability of the legal framework governing business activities.
At the same time, all economic sectors must have equal access to resources such as land and finance, particularly in public investment projects and development programmes. Creating a safe, healthy, and fair competitive environment will help mobilise social resources, especially in the private sector, thereby promoting rapid and sustainable growth.
Beyond the role of the state, the decisive factor ultimately lies in enterprises’ own internal capacity. It is necessary to reinvigorate traditional growth drivers while cultivating new ones based on the application of science and technology, digital transformation, and green transition across the production and business operations, thereby improving operational efficiency.
In addition, enterprises should continue investing in research and development to create high value-added products, build and consolidate brands, restructure operations, diversify markets, and effectively leverage free trade agreements to gradually deepen their integration into and strengthen their position within global value chains.
At the same time, financial restructuring should be prioritised, encompassing diversified funding sources and greater transparency to improve access to credit. The development of a high-quality workforce, particularly management teams with strong capacity for international integration, is also essential.
Furthermore, enterprises need to strengthen linkages and collaboration across value chains, helping to reduce costs, enhance competitiveness, and improve resilience to external shocks.
Only through these efforts can enterprises truly become a driving force, making a decisive contribution to achieving the economy’s double-digit growth target in the years ahead.
